Allardyce – Criticism More Volatile Than Expected

Sam Allardcye has given a long interview today to the the Newcastle Journal and admits up front that the criticism he has received by some Newcastle fans has surprised him.

But Sam is also an experienced manager and knows that on the field results will what he will be measured by, in spite of all the great off the field stuff going on at the club, that we don’t hear enough about.

But it’s an interesting interview, if long, and we have to say we think Sam is more upset about the criticism than we would have thought.

Sam Allardyce – unhappy with all the criticism

But he’s just so determined to be a success at Newcastle, because he knows what’s on the other side of it, complete adoration from the fans and the community, if indeed he can build Newcastle up to a trophy winning team again.

Sam Allardyce talked today to Luke Edwards of the Newcastle Journal:

â€œIt is probably more volatile and more unacceptable than I expected,â€ â€œYou donâ€™t speculate about someone taking over someone elseâ€™s job when you lose two games on the trot.â€

â€œAm I angry about the speculation? I am hardly happy about it, am I, but it goes with the territory unfortunately. There is so much pressure in the Premier League. It is important I keep getting results and keep winning football matches.â€

â€œMy fears have already been realized this season. Four managers have gone, four sacked. There is massive pressure with the extra money. There is very little reality going around at the minute.â€

Newcastleâ€™s chairman Chris Mort has already dismissed speculation about the managerâ€™s position by saying that Sam is part of Newcastleâ€™s long term plans, and even though they didnâ€™t appoint Sam, Mort is keen to add that Sam would have been high on their own list of managers for the job.

Allardyce, though, is a pragmatist if nothing else, and he knows full well that results are needed, and even now, at the beginning of his tenure on Tyneside, he knows he needs to constantly prove himself with good results on the field.

â€œMy long-term is only going to be long-term if I get results. I know, as good as Mike (Ashley) and Chris (Mort) the chairman are, if I donâ€™t get results there is going to be a huge pressure put on them, never mind me, so results are the name of the game for me.â€

â€œThe longevity of my period at this football club is to make sure I build, or help them build, something from the bottom to the top. I can only do that by making sure the top is right first, results wise, and then putting all the stuff that needs to be put into place to make this club fundamentally sound to sustain success.â€

â€œItâ€™s not as if Iâ€™m starting from a position where I am trying to get the club back to where it was because this club has achieved very little in the last three or four years. It is about progress. Whereby some fans want it to be instant, it cannot be. Instant is not sustainable. Instant goes to bankruptcy in business.â€

â€œI donâ€™t think there is greater pressure for me at Newcastle than there was when I was living at the bottom of the Premiership with Bolton, going 10 games without a win and planning to go away and keep the score down if you can.â€

â€œThe dark days then were much more pressured than the pressure at Newcastle United. There is a different pressure here by the expectation and the demand for quick success, but it isnâ€™t worse.â€

â€œWhat Sam Allardyce gives out is only what he wants to give out as a manager. I am my own man. I donâ€™t copy people or follow other managers. I do my job the way I think it should be done and, luckily enough for me, I must have some talent because you donâ€™t stay as long as I have in this volatile world without it.â€

â€œI havenâ€™t been sacked since 1995 at Blackpool and I donâ€™t want to be sacked again. Wherever I have been, a club has been more successful than when I took over and I hope thatâ€™s going to be the case here.â€

We hope Sam is never sacked at Newcastle, because that at least will mean he has been successful on the field, and we do think he’s an excellent manager both off and on the field.

We know Sam and his staff, and also chairman Chris Mort, are doing great things off the field and behind the scenes, and that will continue. We’ll probably not hear enough of those good things going on behind the scenes, but we’ll try to keep bringing them out on this site. Mort is currently engaged in lots of good local community activities.

But in football management it’s all about results, and we don’t care who the manager is in the league these days, if they are not getting results they will be taking some flak. Alex Ferguson did a few years back, Jose Mourinho did at Chelsea, and Wenger got loads of criticism last season at Arsenal. And these are some of the best managers in the world, with very successful teams, so as Big Sam says, it goes with the territory.

Nothing is different, in that respect, at Newcastle United. We think Sam will be a great manager at Newcastle, and nothing has changed in that respect because of two bad defeats. Let’s give the man a little time and support, especially when times are tough, because that’s when he really needs it, whether he says so or not.

20 comments so far

My thoughts completely, alot of the Newcastle fans who left the stadium early last Saturday and who fill the forums and phone ins with doom and gloom after every defeat only started following the club in the Keegan era and would do well to remember that at times in the past we were only dreaming of playing in the top league.

To win trophies with BSA we need to be very patient and give him a good few years to get the club exactly how he wants it. While thats happening we should support the team and BSA through good and bad – bcos thats what real supporters do. The players BSA is bringing in have real heart and appreciate our support (No Dyers, Brambles or Bowyers here anymore)

In recent years NUFC supporters have been partly responsible for the amount of pressure we have put on managers and sometimes we need to take a step back, weve won nowt for decades now! Another few years wait isnt going to hurt anyone so lets just enjoy what weve got – it could be alot worse – we could be Sunderland!

Andy c,very well said I am one of those supporters who only became passionate after the Keegan “revolution” but still remember when a top half finish with Jackie Charlton was deemed real progress, of course other managers haven’t lasted long as they’ve dismantled champions league teams and turned them into mediocre relegation threatened……….I was at Sir Bobbies last match when a very rare Shay Given blunder cost us a 2-2 draw and because he’d only finished fifth with two matches to go the seasonbefore that was enough to get him the sack,we replaced him with a manager who was just about to get the sack.BSA hasn’t dismantled a team he’s in the process of making one, that will take time.Apart from Jose Mourhino no manager has won the premier league in their firsr season,so please lets give Big Sam a chance.

Yes a manager should be given time…….Alex Ferguson the best example of that.

Maybe yes some fans are from the Keegan era and highly critical but it’s nothing new, I seem to remember a certain Jack Charlton’s name chanted and him leaving soon after……..

I’m not saying it’s right just that it’s nothing new.

To go back to Keegan he became a legend as a manager here because he produced the goods……..%55 win ratio and with fine football too.

BSA is working hard no doubt about that but his tactics are confusing me tbh. Maybe with a new club/team/players etc he is on a learning curve and experimenting OK I can live with that, my thoughts just get on with it, there will be highs and lows that’s EPL for ya.

Get a solid team together that shows the passion to play for NUFC infront of passionate fans who pay alot to see highly paid professionals, that’s something I haven’t seen for a long while.

So Saturday’s derby is a great time to start, win lose or draw show some passion……….. OK edit………win win or draw………OK win win or win ……lmao

A lot of the fans who left early aswell (including myself) have been going to the matches since they were bairns and I’m 35 now. That’s 28 years I’ve been going and unless my dad dragged me out any earlier (I can’t remember) that’s the earliest I’ve ever left!!

really dont like theway we are being painted here . we got smashed at home in one of the poorest displays of football st james has seen in years . surely he expected flak for that ? sick of saying it , but us geordies were fed up of our old chairman sacking managers . it was always freddy taking the pressure of himself and not geordies wanting rid .

Well said Ed and andyc290, great to read BSA honest answers and the facts of what is happening – in a world full of PR Managers (MacLaren, Sven; Roeder & Souness closer to home) it’s refreshing that he does things his own way. This season was always going to be a transitional year no matter anybody comes out and says – new board, chairman, owners, managers, backroom staff, players, buildings etc – this takes time so whatever happens this year (providing we don’t get relegated ha) is a bonus for the sustained development of our beloved club. The criticism has mainly yet again come from the papers – fans were just disapointed and SOME exercised their rights to leave earlier than the final whistle – there wasnt much come back from a result like that – we just got it wrong, hands up, damage limitation – lets move on.

Now for the weekend and 3 points lads – Keanoooo, he w**ks his dog Keanooo !!!!!

I am all in for supporting Big Sam and I belong to those who are willing to give him time to create a team that is capable of challenging for the throphy. That said, Big Sam should realise that he is at a big club now with big expectations, and when you are not performing at a big club, you must expect some critisism. But hey, lets get behind the lads tomorrow and get that derby win, then we’ll be alright for the international break.

For those criticising Allardyce for giving interviews, i’m sure if he were to refuse to talk to the local press etc you would be criticising him from not talking to the public more.

We need to get behind big sam 100%. We would all like quick success but in my opinion, if we achieve top 10 this year then sam should be given next season as well to continue the rebuilding process. Obviously we’d like to finish at least 6th to get into europe, but realistically anything in top 10 is an improvement on last year.

Then in 2008/09 season depending where we come at the end of this season you’d look at top 8 or top 6 finish, 2009/10 challenging top 4 etc.

Success isnt gonna just come overnight, we need time to complete rework the infrastacture of the club, including facilities, back up, staff and players. Even under bobby if we’re honest things weren’t completely right to achieve success, bobby’s favourites like dyer and bellamy were given a bit too much of a free reign, and towards the end there was obvious cracks in the team morale starting to appear, though he still shouldnt have been sacked and should have been left to sort things out himself.

It’s newspaper hype and Sam and us are an easy target. I’m a bit surprised at the dig at Bowyer he was probably the most committed player we’ve had for a long bit. I think a lot of us were sorry to see him go and he is playing well at West Ham.

Im not saying that people who started coming to the matches during the Keegan era arent proper supporters. My argument is that proper supporters support the team through bad times and good. If I went to the cinema and the film was crap id leave half way through, thats ok to me because thats a service ive paid for and im not happy with it. I dont think the same applies when you go to watch Newcastle, its in your blood, its part of your life. Just because Sky TV and all the new chairman knocking about have turned football into a ‘product’ it doesnt mean we have to treat it like one. We are there to do a job, ie. support the team, not because anyone has told us to but because we want to and everyone who goes to St James should enjoy doing it, even if we are gettin beat 4-1.

League Placement

health update

I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in February 2017 and completed four months of chemotherapy in late July and will continue to have hormone treatment.

The cancer spread in the bones but it has been stabilized and has not spread further.

I am still recovering from some of the side effects of the chemo treatment - it's mainly severe fatigue and exhaustion.

Stage 4 cancer is not curable so I will continue to have cat scans and bone scans every four months to ensure the cancer is not spreading.

It is as it is - these things happen - and I will do my very best under the circumstances.

Ed Harrison

Comments

The purpose of the comments is to allow Newcastle United fans and others to express their views on the news of the day concerning the Newcastle United Football Club.

In general, we'd ask you to be civil towards other readers and refrain from obscene language and any comments on religion, ethnic groups or politics.

The key to all of this is to be respectful to other readers in expressing your opinion.

Please let's make this work - and let's help the Newcastle United Football Club become great again.

That's all we ask, and why we created this site in the first place back in 2007.

Ed Harrison

Kacper Tylenda Website Designer

One of our avid readers Kacper Tylenda from Poland was the person who came in during April, 2017 and redesigned this web-site from top to bottom.

We think he did a fantastic job to modernize the site with the roll-out on Thursday May 18th surprisingly smooth.

I am so appreciative of his help.

Kacper is starting his own business in web-design so if you want a website built or know of people who want to redo their sites in any way – here’s his portfolio.

football club

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.